obedience / obey

The Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, and Greek that is translated in English typically as “obedience” or “obey” is translated in Tepeuxila Cuicatec as “thing hearing,” because “to hear is to obey.” (Source: Marjorie Davis in The Bible Translator 1952, p. 34ff. )

In Huba it is translated as hya nǝu nyacha: “follow (his) mouth.” (Source: David Frank in this blog post )

In Central Mazahua it is translated as “listen-obey” and in Huehuetla Tepehua as “believe-obey” (source: Waterhouse / Parrott in Notes on Translation October 1967, p. 1ff.), and in Noongar as dwangka-don, lit. “hear do” (source: Portions of the Holy Bible in the Nyunga language of Australia, 2018).

See also disobedience.

Translation commentary on Baruch 3:33

Good News Translation has restructured this verse to present the events it pictures in a logical order: God calls the light to come to him; it trembles and obeys. He sends it forth and it goes forth. The going forth is expressed as “it appeared,” since from the standpoint of someone on earth the light, going forth from God, would “appear.”

There is, however, another approach to this verse, convincingly presented by Moore, which should be very seriously considered. The Greek word for light used here renders a Hebrew word that is used in the Hebrew Bible to represent “lightning,” as in Job 36.32; 37.3, 11, 15. Compare also Job 38.35, in which the lightning’s response to God, “Here we are,” also appears in Bar 3.34 as the response of the stars. If “lightning” is intended here rather than light, the order in the Greek is already logical: God sends forth the lightning, it goes, he recalls it, it obeys. In fear is literally “with trembling.” This can easily be picturing not fear, but the quivering appearance of the lightning bolt. A possible rendering of the whole verse with lightning in view is:

• He sends down the lightning, and it goes; he calls it back, and it obeys in a shimmering streak.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Shorter Books of the Deuterocanon. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2006. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.